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We all have those moments. The
ones when we're watching a triple overtime unfold, or we're hitting
the last-second jumper ourselves - the ones that stay with us the
rest of our lives. They remind us of why we're passionate
about sports - why everything from the Tallahassee Little League
Championships to the Super Bowl can get us excited. Some
of us here at Outsports, and some of our readers, have put together
our lists of our Top Moments In Sports. We hope some of these
lists remind you of "where you were when..." and that they
inspire you to create your own list. Whether you have 3, 5,
10, or any number of favorite sports moments, e-mail
them to us and we'll post them here. Cyd,
Los Angeles
It's hard to put these 10 favorite
moments in any kind of order, but here goes...
10) 1986 World Series, Game 6,
Boston vs. New York Mets
I was in seventh grade, it was getting late, and I had to get up
the next morning. I had never liked the Red Sox.
Never. And, what's more is, I was surrounded by these faithful
followers who watched every year as the Red Sox took a lead into
September and blew it by October. This year was
different. It was the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the
World Series, the Red Sox were leading the Series 3 games to 2, and
they were now winning the game, 6-5. I went to bed. I
got up late the next morning, hurried downstairs, and caught the bus
to school. I was surprised that no one was cajoling me for the
Red Sox' victory - but, I was happy. I got to school and my
English teacher, this little 5- foot woman from Quincy, came up to
me. "I don't want to hear about it," she said.
I was stunned. "There's still one more game."
The Sox had, as always, choked away the game - and eventually choked
away the series. I was redeemed.
9) 1994 World Cup, Brazil
vs. U. S., July 4th
It was July 4th and the United States soccer team was playing their first round game of the World Cup at, of
all  places, Stanford Stadium. With American flags
waving around all over the place, it had that patriotic feel that is so rare on the West Coast.
But, what was even more special, was the amazingly festive atmosphere that the Brazilian fans brought to
the place. They wanted their pictures taken with Americans, they waved Brazilian and American flags,
and they danced and sang all day and all night. Three of my
fraternity brothers (above) and I got to go to the game. While
we sat in the "U.S. section," there were mostly Brazil
fans where we were - which was fine with us - the more Brazilians,
the more fun. The U.S. lost in a near-upset, 1-0, but it was the best
(if still the only) soccer game I've been to.
8) 1990 Massachusetts Division 3
State Basketball Semifinals, Harwich vs. Mission High
My high school basketball team was in the state semifinals for
the first time ever. And I wasn't just a fan. I was the
biggest fan in the school. I wore the Rough Riders gear
(complete with holster and brimmed cowboy hat), I went to every
game, I fantasized about the locker room after games.... But,
maybe even bigger than my team being in the state semifinals was
where they were going to be played: the Boston Garden.
Home to 16 NBA Championship banners, the Garden was THE basketball
arena in the world. As I stepped into the arena and peered
down at the floor, it was nothing short of magical. The lights
glistened off of the shiny floor - the green looking electric
against the yellow-brown of the parquet. As I watched the
game, I just kept looking around the Garden - at the retired jerseys
(Bird wasn't among them yet), the banners, the gold microphone to
commemorate Johnny Most. We lost that game that year - in
fact, we got to go back the next year, and they lost again.
But, to spend just a few hours watching MY team in that place - it
was special.
7)
1998 NCAA Eastern Regional Finals, Stanford vs. Rhode Island
It was over. With 50
seconds left on the clock, the Rhode Island Rams were leading the
3rd-seeded Stanford Cardinal, 77-71. This was not the
year. Stanford got a two-point basket, to pull within four,
but this was just a tease - something to get me excited, only to let
me down. They then fouled a Rhode Island player, who missed
his free throw. Point guard Arthur Lee then brought the ball
down court - and Stanford scored, to be within two points.
Then the play the world would remember. One of the Cardinal
stole the inbounds pass and got the ball to Mark "Mad Dog"
Madsen, who dunked the it and howled and jumped and pounded his
chest. A few moments later, Stanford scored again and won the
game, 79-77, sending me into a frenzy and sending the Stanford
Cardinal to the Final Four.
6)
1999 Gay Flag Football Match - Los Angeles vs. San Francisco
I had been playing with the L.A. Motion, the gay flag football team
here, for three years - but I had never played in a competitive game
against another team. When we stumbled across the San
Francisco 69ers on the Web, the challenge was on. My personal
goal for the game was simple: score more points on defense
than on offense. Up 30-0 in Game 1, we were back on
defense. I had the right wide-out man-on-man. The ball
was hiked and the wide-out took two steps right at me, then cut
toward the sidelines. The way I defend is to focus on a place
between my player and the quarter (something I heard Charles Woodson
say about three years ago). I saw the quarterback look over to
the wide-out, cock his arm back, and throw the ball. I stepped
up and grabbed the ball before it hit the receiver's hands.
For the next 40 yards I just heard the ESPN jingle in my head: da na
na na na na na na...you know it. I scored 12 points on defense
that day (6 of them on that play) and 8 on offense. Mission
accomplished. (By the way, we played two games that day and won
both.)
5) 1995
Women's Wimbledon Final
I don't remember what the score was. I just remember being in
shock. Steffi Graf was the queen bee of the women's
tournament. And, she was my favorite player in tennis.
When she was just winning her first Wimbledon, back in 1989, I was
spending two weeks in Germany, where she's from. Somehow,
their enthusiasm for this teenager got to me and stuck with me
through her career. She was, maybe, the best there ever
was. And here she was, playing Jana Novatna in the Finals of
"Steffi's Tournament." But, in the second set,
Steffi was down 1 set to 0, down 4 games to 1. Steffi, it
seemed, had run out of steam. When NBC came back from
commercial, Steffi won the sixth game to pull within 4-2. Then
she won again. And again. And again. And, when all
was said and done, Steffi had pulled off one of the greatest
come-from-behind victories of all time, and had made me a very happy
boy.
4) 1989 Harwich High School Track Awards Banquet
I was a sophomore at the time. Until that year, I had never won an event at a track meet. Hell, I'd only
come in second a couple times. That all changed that
 season. In the third meet of the season, having never
won a single event, in a dual meet against West Bridgewater, I went off, winning all four events I
entered (300 hurdles, 100 hurdles, long jump & triple jump), earning league athlete of the week honors and
shocking myself and my coaches. After the season, we had an awards banquet. Coach Mary McGrath got up in
front of a few hundred athletes and parents and told them how hard her last decision of the year was. She
labored over it, thinking hard about the impact on the team, past results, tabulating and recalculating
numbers. And, at the end of it, her decision was clear: "for scoring the most points on the team, the
MVP for the 1989 track season is Cyd Zeigler."
3) 1992 NCAA Football, Stanford at
Notre Dame
Bill Walsh returned to The Farm and to the college ranks for the first time since winning Super Bowls
with the 49ers. There is no football team I dislike more than Notre Dame and, in Walsh's second real test
of the season, he led 18th-ranked Stanford into 6th-ranked Notre Dame for a game no one thought they
could win. And, down 16-0, it seemed the "experts" were right. But, before halftime, Stanford scored a
safety that brought the halftime score to 16-2. In the second half, Walsh coached a masterful game as the
Cardinal went on to score another 31 unanswered points, winning 33-16, sending myself, and the
Stanford campus, into a frenzy.
2) 1995 NCAA Basketball Tournament, 2nd
Round - UCLA vs. Missouri
Two weeks earlier I had been in L.A. and saw UCLA's last regular-season game - a win against Oregon. I
went back to my fraternity house singing the praises of the Bruins, and how they would win the NCAA
Championship. My frat brothers said to me, as the tournament started and I was one of two guys to put
UCLA as the eventual winners, "when they lose, we're gonna shit in your room." And they meant it. With 4.2
seconds left in their 2nd round game, UCLA was losing to Missouri,
74-73 - and all 50 guys in the house were crowded around me, just waiting like vultures. The
ball was inbounded to Tyus Edney who then drove the length of the field and, with .2 seconds left on the
clock, threw the ball up toward the basket, and stole victory from the jaws of defeat. The
TV room at the
house never was so silent.
1) 1998 NFC Championship - Atlanta Falcons
at Minnesota Vikings
In April 1998, Jim was headed to Las Vegas and wanted to know if I'd put some money on any NFL futures.
"Put $10 on the Patriots to win the AFC at 10:1 and...put $5 on the Falcons to win the NFC at 50:1."
Jim told me I was wasting my 5 bucks, but I had a "vibe" about the Falcons that season. I just thought
they had a chance. Fast-forward nine months and I'm sitting on Jim's couch in late January and, low and
behold, the Falcons are in the NFC Championship. With about 10 minutes, though, they're down by
10 to a
self-proclaimed "unstoppable" offense. No team has ever come back by this much in a conference
championship, Jim reminds me. And then a miracle
occurred. The Vikes now had a 7-point lead and were attempting a
field goal to make it 10. Game over. Three weeks prior, Gary Anderson had become the first kicker in NFL history to make 100% of his
field goal attempts. From about the 25-yard-line, Anderson lined up...and missed for the first time all
season. The Falcons then marched down the field, tied the game, and
then in overtime kicked a field goal of their own with an Andersen of
their own, and won me $250 on a wasted bet.
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